2017 Season Review: Sloane Stephens returns from injury in the best way possible

What a year it has been for Sloane Stephens, who won her first Grand Slam title after coming back from a 11-month hiatus due to an injury.

Sloane Stephens proudly posing along with her US Open trophy | Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images North America

Call it the best comeback that tennis has ever witnessed. Sloane Stephens, unable to walk in April, yet in September lifted up her first Major trophy. We had many impressive comebacks in professional tennis by other players, but Stephens’ run was one of a kind. From being ranked 934th in July, the American has since returned to the top-20 and has played the best tennis of her career.

Win-loss record

Stephens’ win-loss record stands at a disappointing 15-10 despite winning her first Major and reentering the top-15 of the rankings. Impressively enough, all her wins came against top-50 players and she amassed a 15-4 record at the US Open Series alone. The average ranking of the opponents she had beaten stands at an incredible 27.1, while she fell to lower-ranked players on six different and consecutive occasions, which all occurred during the Asian Swing.

Sloane Stephens in action at the Rogers Cup, where she earned her first win of the year and reached the semifinals | Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images North America

Sloane Stephens in action at the Western and Southern Open, where she earned a couple of excellent victories | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Entering the US Open as the world number 83 and relying on another Protected Ranking, Stephens received an extremely tough draw as she was drawn against former finalist Roberta Vinci in the opening round. Nonetheless, she managed to get past the Italian without facing many problems. The American followed it up with her second top-10 win of the year over the struggling Dominika Cibulkova in a tight three-set match before defeating Ashleigh Barty and Julia Goerges, both in straight sets.

Sloane Stephens could not believe that she just won the US Open | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Low Points

Interestingly, Stephens has either gone on to reach the semifinals or lost in the opening round in all her events. Her comeback to professional tennis started off slowly, having lost her first match in 11 months to compatriot Alison Riske in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships. Falling to the 957th position in the rankings, Stephens endured through another early exit at the Citi Open, falling to then-world number two Simona Halep in straight sets.

Incredible performances at Toronto, Cincinnati and New York followed, but Stephens faced many problems after claiming her first Major title. Struggling with a foot injury, the American shockingly fell to Wang Qiang in the first round of the Wuhan Open, her first match as a Grand Slam champion. Her willpower and fight seem to have all vanished after the US Open Swing, looking out-of-sorts against Christina McHale in a 3-6, 0-6 loss in Beijing.

It was a poor Asian Swing for Sloane Stephens, who failed to earn any wins after winning the US Open | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Season Grade: A-

Although Stephens managed to claim the Comeback Player of the Year award and also win her first Grand Slam, the American has largely struggled during the Asian Swing and ended the year on an unbelievable six-match losing streak with her last win coming over Madison Keys in the final of the US Open. Nonetheless, her comeback had been incredible and earlier on, no one would have placed a bet on Stephens to achieve what she had done this year.